The Benefits of Home Staging When Preparing Your Home For Sale

May 8, 2015

Dining Room and Family Room Staging: PJ & Company Staging and Interior Decorating

In today’s competitive housing market, sellers are faced more than ever with the challenge of how to get their homes noticed by very demanding potential buyers who want a home that feels updated, spacious and doesn’t require a lot of additional work.

A good place to start is by hiring a home staging professional who can add value and make the difference between selling quickly and for top dollar or facing a price reduction. The following are some key reasons why staging is worth the investment:

Home staging professionals provide sellers with an objective eye in order to depersonalize, declutter and neutralize a home’s décor to appeal to as many buyers as possible, regardless of their individual taste or style.

Most buyers form an opinion about a home within the first 15 seconds. If they don’t connect with the property right away by visualizing themselves living there, they’ll turn away.

Web appeal is the new curb appeal with 90% of homeowners beginning their home search online. It’s more important than ever before that your listing photos portray a fresh, updated look.

According to The International Association of Home Staging Professionals (ASP), 95% of staged homes sell on average in 11 days or less and sell for 17% above the asking price compared to those not staged that sit on the market for an average of 90 days or more.

According to National Association of Realtors (NAR), the average staging investment is between 1 and 5 % of the home’s asking price which generates a return of at least 8 to 10% which is less than the first price reduction.

It’s never too late. If a house is already listed and is sitting on the market without any offers, staging can show the home’s true potential and generate new buzz and buyer interest.

About the Author: Patti Stern, principal, interior decorator and professional stager of PJ & Company Staging and Interior Decorating, has been decorating and staging homes since 2005. She and her team provide turnkey, full service home-staging and interior decorating to clients across Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts. She also developed an award winning staging program for luxury home builder, Toll Brothers.

Patti has been featured in Connecticut Magazine, the Hartford Courant, Danbury News-Times and on NBC Connecticut and FOX TV. She is a regular contributor to the National Association of Realtor’s Blog, “Style, Staged and Sold.”